


Shades of Gray

by xtremeroswellian



Series: Who I Am, What I'll Become [3]
Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Cordelia Chase sets the record straight, Food for Thought, Gen, Kate Lockley had such potential
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Cordelia and Kate have a talk.
Relationships: Cordelia Chase & Kate Lockley
Series: Who I Am, What I'll Become [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716577
Kudos: 1





	Shades of Gray

Cordelia Chase took a deep breath as she walked up to the doorway of apartment #24 and knocked on it. She took a moment to glance around the hallway: the carpet was unusually clean for an apartment building, and the place was well-lighted to boot. She had never been to this apartment building before, but she was impressed by what she saw. She didn't like it as well as she liked her own apartment building, of course, but it wasn't half bad.

The door opened a moment later and Kate Lockley stared at her, a look of surprise on her face. "Cordelia. Hi."

Cordelia forced herself to smile. "Hi. Can I come in?"

The blonde detective blinked. "Uh...sure."

She moved aside and Cordelia walked into her apartment, taking notice of the nice furniture. The woman had some sense of style. She turned to face Kate. "I came here because I thought that we should talk," she said, getting right to the point.

"Look, Cordelia, Angel and I talked the day before yesterday, and we've agreed that we can be civil to one another."

"Angel was always civil to you in the first place," Cordelia couldn't help but point out.

Kate looked away. "Can I get you something to drink? Some water or coffee? Or a soda?"

"Coffee would be great."

Kate left the room and moved into the kitchen while Cordelia stood in the middle of the living room. A framed photograph on the fireplace mantel caught her eye and she moved over to look at it more closely. It was a picture of Kate, and an older man, both in uniform. She didn't even hear Kate approach.

"That was taken a two years ago at the annual LAPD picnic at the park. That's my father."

Cordelia nodded and accepted the mug of coffee.

"Have a seat," Kate told her.

"Thanks." Cordelia sat down on the couch, cradling her coffee mug in her hands and watched as Kate curled up in the chair across from her. "I know that you must be...struggling with everything you've found out about, and with everything that's happened in the past year."

The detective didn't respond, so Cordelia continued. "I just want to say that I do understand where you're coming from. When I first found out that vampires and demons existed, I was pretty much less than thrilled, too. I mean, there I was, sixteen years old and in my sophomore year of high school when this new girl moves to town, and all this weird stuff starts happening..." She sighed. "I mean, okay, it was happening before she got there, but no one acknowledged it, you know?"

Kate was looking at her in confusion.

"Sorry. Buffy. You met her once, I think. Wesley said she was there when you arrested Angel right before Faith turned herself in. Well, anyway, she's a Vampire Slayer. Actually, so's Faith for that matter, but she kind of went insane, so...but...moving on, Buffy goes around and kills vampires and demons and stuff like that and saves the world from the apocalypse, like, every week. And there are always bad guys that want to kill the Slayer, so where she goes, they follow. My entire high school experience consisted of fighting demons and monsters and hanging around with Buffy and her friends. I mean, I could have chosen to *not* hang around with her, you know? But it was either admit what was going on in the town and face it, or wind up zombie bait. And I don't know about you, but I *so* had no desire to be anything's dinner."

Cordelia paused. "Buffy even had to kill Angel once."

"Angel? But he's--"

"Yeah, now. The Powers That Be sent him back after torturing him in Hell for a while. He was sent back so he could help people. So that he can atone for his sins." She took a deep breath. "See, Angel was cursed with a soul by some gypsies, and when he and Buffy...got too close to one another, he lost his soul. The gypsies put this...this...clause on the curse so that if Angel ever experienced one moment of true happiness he would lose his soul."

"He went evil," Kate finished, her eyes narrowed.

"Yes. But he's not anymore. He helped save my hometown--which by the way is on a Hellmouth-- from total destruction. Then he left town so that Buffy could get on with her life and there wouldn't be any chance for him to lose his soul again. He gave up everything," Cordelia informed her, meeting her gaze.

"So that's how he ended up in L.A.?"

Cordelia nodded.

"What about you?"

She looked away. "I came here to start an acting career, and wound up nearly getting killed by a vampire. Angel saved my life, and since then, I've been working with him at Angel Investigations." Cordelia took a deep breath and looked at the detective again. "You see, I was going to go to college, but my father had cheated on our taxes for like...ever. We lost everything. Our house, our cars...all of it."

"I'm sorry," Kate said, her voice sincere.

"Thanks. You know, I was pretty angry with my dad for a long time. I mean, I wondered how he could be so stupid. Did he really think he could get by with it? But then I realized...he made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. And he didn't do it to hurt me. He's my dad. He loves me. And I love him even if he did mess up. People mess up, Kate. No one's perfect. Not even our parents," she said softly.

Kate's eyes filled with tears and she nodded. "I know."

Cordelia looked at her sympathetically. "A lot of people see things in black and white. They see right or wrong, good or bad, human or not human. But that doesn't mean they're right. A man can steal a loaf of bread and be called a thief, but no one bothers to find out that he has six hungry children and a wife at home to feed. If you don't see the shades of gray, you're just as guilty as the person you're accusing."

Kate's gaze locked onto hers and for a long moment they stared at one another.

Cordelia finally broke the gaze as she stood up. "Well, I have to be going. Ever since that whole incident at the warehouse with me getting stabbed to death, Angel and Wesley have been even more over-protective than usual. Dennis, too."

"Dennis?"

"My ghost. He's my roommate. Angel told him what happened, and if I'm not back on time, I'm going to get the lecture of a lifetime from Angel and Wes, and Dennis will hide all my favorite clothes." She smiled at the detective, who stood up and took her coffee mug.

"Well...thanks for stopping by." Kate hesitated. "I mean that."

Cordelia just nodded. "I know. I'm glad we talked. Maybe we can do it again sometime."

"Yeah." Kate opened the door for her.

"I just want you to know...you're not alone. And I know that you probably need some time to figure things out and deal with everything, but...if you need someone to talk to, I've been there. So..."

Kate nodded again and Cordelia walked out into the hallway. She waved and turned to head for the stairs.

Kate Lockley stared after her for a long time.


End file.
